Anderson's virtual book event to feature 'Love, Zac: Small-Town Football and the Life and Death of an American Boy'

Join Anderson's Bookshop for a virtual event with award-winning author Reid Forgrave and his new book, "Love, Zac: Small-Town Football and the Life and Death of an American Boy," at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23.

This new book tackles the hard topics of suicide, masculinity, and the physical and emotional impacts of football.

Reid will be in conversation with Wayne Drehs, senior feature writer for ESPN Digital and Print Media and a three-time Emmy Award winner.

Register at www.andersonsbookshop.com/event/reid-forgrave and you will receive the Zoom link in your confirmation email.

Anderson's Bookshop realizes that this is a challenging time for many families. They are offering a variety of ticket options so that you can choose what is the best fit for you right now.

Every book ticket will include a signed copy of the book, and all donations will go toward supporting this local independent small business and the employees.

Note: They can only ship to addresses in the United States.

In December 2015, Zac Easter, a 24-year-old from small-town Iowa, decided to take his own life rather than continue his losing battle against the traumatic brain injuries he had sustained as a no-holds-barred high school football player.

For this deeply reported and powerfully moving true story, award-winning writer Reid Forgrave was given access to Zac's own diaries and was able to speak with Zac's family, friends, and coaches. He explores Zac's tight-knit, football-obsessed Midwestern community; he interviews leading brain scientists, psychologists, and sports historians; and he takes a deep dive into the triumphs and sins of the sports entertainment industry.

Forgrave shows how football mirrors America, from the fighting spirit the game has helped inscribe in our national character to the side effects of the traditional notions of manhood that it affirms. But above all, "Love, Zac" is a warning to parents and those entrusted with the care of our kids not to ignore concussions and warning signs of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). For parents struggling to decide whether to allow their kids to play football, this eye-opening, heart-wrenching, and ultimately inspiring story may be one of the most important books they will read.

Forgrave writes about sports and other topics for GQ, the New York Times Magazine, and Mother Jones, among other publications. He has covered the NFL and college football for FoxSports.com and CBS Sports, and he currently writes for the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. The article in which he first wrote about Zac Easter is included in Best American Sports Writing 2018 . A past life found him working at the Des Moines Register in Iowa, where he wrote long-form narrative journalism and covered the state's first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses. Forgrave lives in Minneapolis with his wife and two sons. "Love, Zac" is his first book.